SiriusXM, a company best known for its satellite radio channels, is buying EW Scripps’ podcasting company Stitcher in a deal worth $ 325 million. The company confirmed the agreement today after The Wall Street Journal I first reported it last week. The move makes Sirius compete even more seriously against Spotify, iHeartMedia and Apple for dominance of the podcasting space.
Stitcher is not only a popular podcasting app with an ad-free premium subscription service, but it’s also a network that, combined with its other entity Earwolf, produces shows like Conan O’Brien needs a friend. Scripps also combined Stitcher with Midroll Media, a podcast advertising company that sells ads for other shows like The dream and Curiosity with Jonathan Van Ness that it acquired in 2015 for $ 50 million. The agreement with Sirius will grant you ownership of all of these companies, which, in some cases, may be redundant with what you already own and operate.
For one, Sirius owns Pandora, which it acquired in 2018 for $ 3 billion. Pandora, of course, is a popular place to listen to music and podcasts, and it also has its own exclusive content deals, like one with Marvel that was signed last year. It also owns AdsWizz, a podcast ad technology company that places ads on shows. It is unclear how AdsWizz and Midroll could work together or if the companies will merge and share talent and clients. Earlier this year, Sirius also acquired Simplecast, a podcast hosting platform where podcasters can manage their distribution of shows and content. The strategy behind that purchase was to incorporate all aspects of podcasting into the business, including podcasting ads, distribution, and hosting.
With Stitcher, Sirius is bringing another popular podcast player and a venerable network into his fold. Still, Sirius’ strategy is somewhat unclear. He hasn’t clarified how all the pieces of his company will fit together and what kinds of deals he believes will drive him to succeed. Spotify, for example, has entered into exclusive deals with big names, like Joe Rogan, the Obama family, and Kim Kardashian West. Meanwhile, Apple has simply maintained its leadership in the area by being the first to make podcasts, but it is even rumored that it is looking to create its own shows. iHeart has continued to maintain its programming on all platforms, rather than searching for exclusives, but is leveraging its radio stations to further promote the programs it produces and distributes. Sirius has his own podcast channel, but he’ll likely need to do more in the space to claim and make a name for himself.
